Clasps for joining jewelry elements together in a string

ABSTRACT

Various jewelry pieces may be assembled by selectively coupling together jewelry elements of varying ornamental design using clasps that are easily manipulated without the need for tools and which are generally hidden from view when the jewelry piece is worn.

CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to stringing jewelry elements to form a necklace, bracelet or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to clasps for joining two adjoining decorating jewelry elements together to form a jewelry piece comprising a plurality of decorative jewelry elements

Various techniques have been employed for joining jewelry elements together. These include knotted strands passing through central channels of the jewelry elements such as in the case of a string of pearls. Often jewelry elements are joined together using a solder joint, i.e., by melting and putting filler metal into the joint which, as it cools, hardens to join the two elements together. Welding, which involves actually melting the jewelry elements rather than a filler material, has also been employed.

Various clasps have also been used. For example, many watch bands include elements having holes extending therethrough. Such holes of the adjoining elements are aligned and a pin is then inserted through the aligned holes to join the elements together. Other clasps involve projections of one element inserted into and then captured within openings of another element. Many such clasps, because of the small size of the components, are difficult to manipulate when joining two jewelry elements together. Such components can also detract from the appearance of the jewelry piece or make the jewelry piece more expensive to produce. Such clasps are also not always sufficiently secure. Making repairs or exchanging one type of jewelry element for another in the string is also difficult when prior art clasps are used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides clasps that are inexpensive to produce, easy to operate, provide a secure attachment of jewelry elements, and permit substitution of jewelry elements to modify the aesthetic appearance of the jewelry piece. The elements of the clasps are generally hidden from view. In some embodiments, the clasps allow the jewelry elements not only to rotate about an axis relative to each other, but also for the distance between the elements to be altered automatically for the comfort of the wearer of the jewelry piece of to permit the jewelry piece to be easily slid into position such as over the hand and around the wrist in the case of a bracelet.

In one embodiment, the jewelry elements comprise a housing comprising a top wall, a bottom wall, and a sidewall having opposing ends. The top wall, bottom wall and sidewall define a central chamber. A separate opening extends through each of the opposing ends of the sidewall to provide two paths between the exterior of the jewelry element and the central chamber. Located within the chamber is a pair of spring retention members separated by a space adapted to receive the curved head of a generally U-shaped first spring element. One of the spring retention members may comprise a concave surface adapted to receive the convex side of the head of the spring element. The other stop element can be a round post which presents to the head of the spring element a convex surface conforming to the concave side of the head of the spring element. This spring element has a curved head, a pair of legs extending from the head and terminating in feet extending away from each other.

The curved head of the spring element is positioned between the two spring retention members of the housing to hold the spring in place. The legs extend out of the opening in one of the opposing ends of the sidewall. The curved head of the spring element is adapted to bias the legs so that the legs are spread apart. As such, the portions of the sidewall adjacent the opening through which the legs extend act as a stop. The opening in the opposing end of the sidewall is vacant prior to assembly of the jewelry elements to form a jewelry piece.

To join two jewelry elements together, the legs of the spring element of the first jewelry element are forced together and inserted into the vacant opening of the second jewelry element. The force is then released so that the spring head causes the legs to move apart so that the feet of the spring element of the first jewelry element are captured in the chamber of the second jewelry element. I

In some embodiments, the sidewall of the jewelry element has a single opening through which the legs of the spring element extend. The second opening is replaced by a pair of tubes having openings adapted to receive the feet of the spring element of a second jewelry element. Also, the end section of the sidewall with the opening through which the legs of the spring element extend can have a concave area such that the tubes of a second jewelry element can be received within the concave area of the first jewelry element when the feet of the spring element of a first jewelry element are located within the tubes of a second jewelry element.

In still other embodiments, the two spring retention members comprise (a) a stop with a concave surface, and (b) a coiled retention spring adapted to bias the head of the U-shaped spring toward the concave surface of the stop. The coiled retention spring is coiled around the U-shaped spring element such that the coil extends along a first leg of the U-shaped spring element, around the curved head of the U-shaped spring element and along the second leg of the U-shaped spring element. When the U-shaped spring element and the coiled retention spring are assembled within the chamber of a jewelry element, the opposite ends of the coiled retention spring engaged the portions of the sidewall surrounding the opening in the end section of the sidewall while the feet reside outside of the housing of the jewelry element. The coiled retention spring biases the curved head of the U-shaped spring away from the opening. As such, when the feet of a first jewelry element are coupled to a second jewelry element, the two jewelry elements are biased toward each other by the coiled retention spring of the first jewelry element. The force of the coiled retention spring can be overcome to permit the jewelry elements to be joined together or separated. Also, when, for example, a bracelet is formed using such jewelry elements, the force of the coiled retention springs can be overcome with a slight tug to pull the jewelry element apart to permit the bracelet to be placed over the hand and onto the wrist. When the tug is released, the coiled retention springs return the jewelry elements to a normal comfortable position about the wrist.

Various modifications can be made to the ornamental appearance of the jewelry elements. As such, jewelry elements can be selected, mixed and matched to change the overall appearance of the jewelry piece formed of such elements. Likewise, the number of such elements can be changed to accommodate the aesthetic wishes of a wearer or the size of the portion of the wearer's body to be adorned by the jewelry piece. Various charms may also be attached to the housings of the jewelry elements.

Therefore, the embodiments described herein and illustrated in the drawings are intended to be exemplary and not limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a first jewelry piece comprising jewelry elements made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a second jewelry piece comprising jewelry elements made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a third jewelry piece comprising jewelry elements made in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, but with two of the jewelry elements separated to show features of the clasps used to join the jewelry elements together;

FIG. 4 shows a jewelry element of the type employed I the jewelry piece of FIG. 3 with the top wall of the housing removed to reveal the contents of the inner chamber of the jewelry element;

FIG. 5 shows a fourth jewelry piece comprising jewelry elements made in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows the fourth jewelry piece of FIG. 5 with the jewelry elements pulled apart but still attached to each other;

FIG. 7 shows the jewelry piece of FIG. 5, but with two of the jewelry elements separated to show features of the clasps used to join the jewelry elements together.

FIG. 8 shows a jewelry element of the type used in the jewelry piece of FIG. 5 with the top wall of the housing removed so the contents of the chamber of the housing are visible;

FIG. 9 shows two jewelry elements of the type used in the embodiment of FIG. 5 joined together and with the top walls of the housing removed to show the contents of the chambers of the two jewelry elements;

FIG. 10 shows the two jewelry elements shown in FIG. 9 with the top walls of the housings removed and the jewelry elements pulled apart but not separated from each other.

FIG. 11 shows a third embodiment of a jewelry element made in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This detailed description is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the written description of this invention. In the description, relative terms such as “lower”, “upper”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, “above”, “below”, “up”, “down”, “top”, “side”, and “bottom” as well derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “downwardly”, “upwardly”, etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of the description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in the orientation shown in the drawings. Further, terms such as “connected”, “connecting”, “attached”, “attaching”, “joined”, and “joining” are used interchangeably and refer to one structure or surface being secured to another structure or surface or integrally fabricated in one piece, unless expressly described otherwise.

Jewelry elements made in accordance with the present invention can have a variety of aesthetic appearances. This is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, the jewelry piece 1 includes at least five separate jewelry elements 2-6 each having a different ornamental appearance, but each made in accordance with the present invention. In FIG. 2, the jewelry piece 10 includes seven jewelry elements 11-17 each having a different ornamental design, but each made in accordance with the present invention. Jewelry elements 11, 14 and 17 each have a charm designed to dangle from the jewelry element. Specifically, jewelry element 11 is coupled to a snowflake-shaped charm 18, jewelry element 14 is coupled to heart-and-arrow charm 19, and jewelry element 17 is coupled to a key-shaped charm 20.

Further details of the mechanical construction of the jewelry elements employed in the jewelry pieces 1 and 10 are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Each jewelry element includes a housing 21 surrounding a chamber 22. The housing 21 includes a top wall 24, a bottom wall 26 and a sidewall 28.

The sidewall 28 has opposing end sections 30 and 32. Each end section includes an opening 34, 36 extending through the sidewall between the chamber 22 and the exterior of the jewelry element.

Located within the chamber 22 are a pair of spring retention members 40 and 42 separated by a space. The space between spring retention members 40 and 42 is adapted to receive the curved head 46 of a first spring element 44 to secure the spring element 44 in place. The spring element 44 includes a pair of legs 48 and 50 extending from the curved head 46 and through the opening 34. The legs 48 and 50 terminate in feet 49 and 51. The feet 49 and 51 reside outside of the housing and extend outwardly from the legs 48 and 50 away from each other. The curved head 46 of the spring element 44 biases the legs 48 and 50 and the feet 49 and 51 away from each other. The portions of the sidewall 28 adjacent opening 34 engage the legs 48 and 50 and serve as stops.

As shown in FIG. 4, the spring retention member 40 has a concave surface generally corresponding to and adapted to receive the convex side of the curved spring head 46. The spring retention member 42 is a round post with presents a convex side to the concave side of the curved spring head 46.

Two of the jewelry elements of the type shown in FIG. 3 are joined together by coupling the feet 49 and 51 of one jewelry element with the vacant slot 36 of another jewelry element. This is simply and easily achieved by inserting one of the feet (e.g., 49) into the vacant slot 36 and then sliding the two jewelry elements relative to each other so that the gap between the two legs 48 and 50 closes sufficiently to permit the other foot (e.g., 51) to also be inserted into the slot 36. Releasing either of the two jewelry elements allows the force supplied by the curved spring head 46 to cause the legs 48 and 50 to return to their normal position so that the feet 49 and 51 engage the inside of the end portion 32 of the sidewall 28 of the second jewelry element thereby jointing the two jewelry elements together. The two jewelry elements can be detached from each other by again sliding the two jewelry elements relative to each other to close the gap between the two legs 48 and 50 of the spring element 44 and withdrawing the feet 49 and 51 from the second jewelry element. Coupling and decoupling can thus easily be performed by gripping, sliding and separating two adjoining jewelry elements. There is no need to grasp the legs or feet with the fingers or tools to do so.

An alternative embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 5-10. In this embodiment, a plurality of jewelry elements 100 and 102 are joined together, as is the case with the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, but in a manner that not only permits the jewelry elements 100 and 102 to rotate relative to each other, but which also permits the spacing between the elements 100 and 102 to expand and contract between the contracted position illustrated in FIGS. 5, 7 and 9 and the expanded position illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 10.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the jewelry elements 100 and 102 each have a housing 104 surrounding a chamber 106. The housing includes a top wall 108, a bottom wall 110, and a sidewall 112 having opposing end sections 114 and 116. End section 114 has an opening 118 (see FIG. 7) extending from the chamber 106 to the exterior of the housing 104. The end section 116 includes a pair of tubes 120 and 122 which are spaced apart and have foot receiving channels 121 and 123 facing each other.

Positioned within the chamber 106 is a spring retention member (or stop) 124 having a concave surface 125 facing the opening 118. Also, positioned within the chamber 106 is a first spring element 130 having a curved head section 132, a pair of legs 134 and 136 extending from the head section 132 through opening 118 and terminating in feet 135 and 137 that extend outwardly from each other and are adapted to be received within the foot receiving openings 121 and 123 of tubes 120/122 of another jewelry element, e.g., the feet 135 and 137 of jewelry element 102 are adapted to be received within the foot receiving openings 121 and 123 of jewelry element 100.

As shown in FIGS. 8-10, surrounding the first spring element 130 is a coil spring 140 which acts as a second spring retention member. The coil spring 140 extends coaxially with the first spring element 130 from the end section 114 of the sidewall 112 along and around the leg 134 toward the head section 132 and back along and around leg 136 to the end section 114 of sidewall 112. The diameter of coil spring 140 (at least at ends 142 and 144 located in the area immediately adjacent the end section 114 of the sidewall 112) is greater than the height of the opening 118 such that the coil spring 140 engages the end section 114 around opening 118 and biases the head section 132 of the first spring element 130 toward the concave surface 125 of spring retention element 124 so that the head section 132 resides in or immediately adjacent to the concave portion 125 of spring retention element 124. This also draws the feet 135 and 136 which reside outside of the housing 104 toward the end section 114 of the sidewall 112. At the same time, the head section 132 biases the legs 134 and 136 apart so that the legs engage the portions of the end section 114 of the sidewall 112 adjacent the opening 118.

When coupling jewelry elements 100 and 102 together, one of the feet (e.g., 135) of jewelry element 102 is inserted into the foot receiving opening (e.g., 121) of a hollow tube (e.g., 120) of jewelry element 100. The jewelry elements 100 and 102 are then slide relative to each other to close the gap between the legs 134/136 and feet 135/137 of the first spring element 130 of jewelry element 102 so that the other foot (e.g., 137) can be inserted into the foot receiving opening 123 of hollow tube 122 of jewelry element 100. Releasing either of the two jewelry elements 100/102 allows the legs 134/136 and feet 135/137 of the first spring element 130 of jewelry element 102 to be moved outwardly by the head 132 to join the two jewelry elements 100/102 together. The jewelry elements 100/102 can be separated from each other by sliding them so that the legs 134/136 of jewelry element 102 come together so the feet 135/137 can be withdrawn from the foot receiving channels 121/123 of the tubes 120/122 of jewelry element 100.

One advantage of the arrangement shown in FIGS. 5-10 is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 10. The arrangement of the first spring element 130 and the coiled spring 140 permits the jewelry elements 100/102 to be pulled apart without disconnecting the jewelry elements from each other such as when passing a bracelet made of such jewelry elements over the hand. Also, the end section 114 can be concave or otherwise adapted to receive the tubes 120 and 122 to effectively hide the first spring element 130 from view when the coiled spring 140 is relaxed (or at least is engaged with the stop 124).

FIG. 11 shows a mechanism identical to that illustrated and described above with respect to FIGS. 5-10, but used in a jewelry element 200 having a housing with a curved sidewall 202.

As should now be clear to the reader from the foregoing, various jewelry pieces (e.g., 1 and 10) can be formed using a plurality of jewelry elements (e.g., 2-6, 11-17, 100, 102, 200) when each of the jewelry elements comprises: (a) a housing 21/104 having an inner chamber 22/106 defined by a top wall 24/108, a bottom wall 26/110 and a sidewall 28/112 having a first end section 30/114 surrounding a first exterior opening 34/118 extending through the sidewall 28/112 to the inner chamber 22/106; (b) a spring element 44/130 comprising a curved head section 46/132 and a pair of legs 48/50 or 134/136 extending from the curved head section 46/132 each terminating in an outwardly projecting feet 49/51 or 135/137 wherein the head section 46/132 biases the legs 48/50 or 134/136 and feet 49/51 or 135/136 toward a spaced apart configuration; (c) a pair of spring retention members 40/42 or 124/140 positioned within the inner chamber 22/106 of the housing 21/104 and adapted to engage and retain the spring element 44/130 so that the curved head 46/132 of the spring element 40/130 is within the chamber 22/106, the legs 48/50 or 134/136 extend through the exterior opening 34/118, and the feet 49/51 or 135/136 reside outside of the housing 21/104; and (d) at least one foot receiving member (e.g., opening 36 or tubes 120/122). As discussed above, the pair of spring retention members can either be a pair of stops 40/42 separated by a space adapted to receive the curved head section 46 of the first spring element 44. In this case, stop 40 has a concave section for receiving convex side of head 46 and stop 42 is a pin having a convex section in face-to-face registration with the concave side of curved head section 46 of the first spring element. Alternatively, the pair of spring retention members can be a stop 124 and spring adapted to bias the spring element 130 toward the stop 140.

For example, the spring can be a coil spring 140 having ends 142/144 engaging the end section 114 of the sidewall 112 of the housing 104 around the exterior opening 118 which is coiled around the legs 134/136 and curved head section 132 of the spring element 130. Each jewelry element also has a foot receiving member such as either a second opening 36 extending through the sidewall 28 adapted to receive the two feet 49 and 51 of an adjoining jewelry element, or a pair of hollow tubes 120/122 coupled to the housing 104 and having foot receiving openings 121/122 that face each other that are adapted to receive the feet 135/134 of an adjoining jewelry element. Various charms can also be attached to the jewelry elements.

The foregoing description is intended to explain the various features and advantages of the present invention, but is not intended to be limiting. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims which are also intended to cover a reasonable range of equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A jewelry element comprising: a housing having an inner chamber defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, and a sidewall having a first end section surrounding a first exterior opening extending through the sidewall to the inner chamber; a spring element comprising a curved head section and a pair of legs extending from the curved head section, each of said legs terminating in an outwardly extending foot, wherein the head section biases the legs and feet toward a spaced apart configuration; a pair of spring retention members positioned within the inner chamber and adapted to engage and retain the spring element so that the curved head of the spring element is within the chamber, the legs extend through the exterior opening and the feet reside outside of the housing; and at least one foot receiving member.
 2. The jewelry element of claim 1 wherein said pair of spring retention members comprise a pair of stops separated by a space adapted to receive the curved head section of the first spring element.
 3. The jewelry element of claim 2 wherein the curved head section of the spring element has a concave side and a convex side, and wherein one of the stops has a concave portion for engaging the convex side of the head section of the spring element and the other of the stops has a convex portion for engaging the concave side.
 4. The jewelry element of claim 1 wherein a first of said pair of retention members is a stop having a concave portion, and the second of said pair of retention members comprises a spring having at least one end adapted to reside in the chamber and bias the curved head portion of the spring element toward the concave portion of the stop.
 5. The jewelry element of claim 4 wherein the spring is and elongate coil spring coiled around the curved head section and the legs of the spring element and the having a pair of ends engaging the first end section surrounding the exterior opening extending through sidewall.
 6. The jewelry element of claim 1 wherein the at least one foot receiving member is a second exterior opening in the sidewall.
 7. The jewelry element of claim 1 wherein the at least one foot receiving member comprises a pair of hollow tubes coupled to the housing each having foot receiving open and wherein the foot receiving openings of the tubes face each other.
 8. The jewelry element of claim 1 further comprising a charm attached to the housing.
 9. A jewelry piece comprising a plurality of jewelry elements, each of said jewelry elements comprising: a housing having an inner chamber defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, and a sidewall having a first end section surrounding a first exterior opening extending through the sidewall to the inner chamber; a spring element comprising a curved head section and a pair of legs extending from the curved head section, each of said legs terminating in an outwardly extending foot, wherein the head section biases the legs and feet toward a spaced apart configuration; a pair of spring retention members positioned within the inner chamber and adapted to engage and retain the spring element so that the curved head of the spring element is within the chamber, the legs extend through the exterior opening, and the feet reside outside of the housing; and at least one foot receiving member; wherein the jewelry elements are adapted to be joined together by coupling the feet of a first of said plurality of jewelry elements with the at least one foot receiving member of a second of said plurality of jewelry elements.
 10. The jewelry piece of claim 9 wherein said pair of spring retention members of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements comprise a pair of stops separated by a space adapted to receive the curved head section of the first spring element.
 11. The jewelry piece of claim 10 wherein the curved head section of the spring element of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements has a concave side and a convex side, and wherein one of the stops has a concave portion for engaging the convex side of the head section of the spring element and the other of the stops has a convex portion for engaging the concave side.
 12. The jewelry piece of claim 9 wherein a first of said pair of retention members of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements is a stop having a concave portion, and the second of said pair of retention members comprises a spring having at least one end adapted to reside in the chamber and bias the curved head portion of the spring element toward the concave portion of the stop.
 13. The jewelry piece of claim 12 wherein the spring of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements is an elongate coil spring coiled around the curved head section and the legs of the spring element and the having a pair of ends engaging the first end section surrounding the exterior opening extending through sidewall.
 14. The jewelry piece of claim 9 wherein the at least one foot receiving member of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements is a second exterior opening extending through the sidewall.
 15. The jewelry piece of claim 9 wherein the at least one foot receiving member of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements comprises a pair of hollow tubes coupled to the housing, each of said hollow tubes having a foot receiving openings and wherein the foot receiving openings of the tubes face each other.
 16. The jewelry piece of claim 9 further comprising a charm attached to the housing of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements.
 17. A jewelry piece comprising a plurality of jewelry elements, each of said jewelry elements comprising: a housing having an inner chamber defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, and a sidewall having a first end section surrounding a first exterior opening extending through the sidewall to the inner chamber; a spring element comprising a curved head section having a concave side and a convex side, and a pair of legs extending from the curved head section each terminating in an outwardly extending foot, wherein the head section biases the legs and feet toward a spaced apart configuration; and a pair of spring retention members positioned within the inner chamber and adapted to engage and retain the spring element so that the curved head of the spring element is within the chamber, the legs extend through the exterior opening and the feet reside outside of the housing, wherein a first of said pair of retention members comprises a stop that has a concave portion, and wherein a second of said pair of spring retention members is adapted to bias the curved head of the spring element toward the concave portion of the stop and comprises an elongate coil spring coiled around the curved head section and the legs of the spring element and having a pair of ends engaging the first end section surrounding the exterior opening extending through sidewall; and at least one foot receiving member; wherein the jewelry elements are adapted to be joined together by coupling the feet of a first of said plurality of jewelry elements with the at least one foot receiving member of a second of said plurality of jewelry elements.
 18. The jewelry piece of claim 17 wherein the at least one foot receiving member of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements is a second exterior opening extending through the sidewall.
 19. The jewelry piece of claim 17 wherein the at least one foot receiving member of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements comprises a pair of hollow tubes coupled to the housing, each of the hollow tubes having a foot receiving open and wherein the foot receiving openings of the tubes face each other.
 20. The jewelry piece of claim 17 further comprising a charm attached to the housing of at least one of the plurality of jewelry elements. 